Facebook joins Apple, Google in top 10 most valuable brands list

According to the the annual Interbrand Best Global Brands Report, the world’s five top growing brands included Facebook, Amazon, Adobe, Adidas and Starbucks

New Delhi:The technology sector dominated the annual Interbrand Best Global Brands Report, released on Monday with half of the top ten brands being technology firms. Apple and Google topped the 18th edition of global rankings for the fifth consecutive year. The report estimated the value of brand Apple at $184.1 billion, up 3% from last year. Value of brand Google was estimated at $141.7 billion, an increase of 6% from last year.

Another tech major Microsoft knocked off beverage brand Coca-Cola to grab the third spot in the list. Microsoft’s estimated brand value stood at $79.9 billion, 10% increase in brand value from last year. The top 10 brands in the list included Coca-Cola, Amazon, Samsung, Toyota, Facebook, Mercedes-Benz and IBM.

It is for the first time social media giant Facebook made it to the top 10 brands list.

According to the report by the global brand consultancy, the world’s five top growing brands included Facebook which leads for the second year running, Amazon, Adobe, Adidas and Starbucks. Brand Facebook witnessed the maximum increase in value at $48.1 billion, an increase of 48%, followed by Amazon.com (29%), Adobe (19%), Adidas (17%) and Starbucks (16%), according to the report.

Online streaming platform Netflix (rank 78), cloud computing firm Salesforce.com (rank 84) and luxury sports car maker Ferrari (rank 88) made it to the list of top 100 most valuable global brands for the first time.

The combined value of the top 100 brands stood at $1871.7 billion, up 4.2% from 2016.

“It’s clear the best global brands are not just weathering change, but driving it. They understand their anatomy of growth is complex, unique and personal; they look inward and outward, expand into new markets, and create better experiences to grow their brands and businesses,” Jez Frampton, Interbrand’s global chief executive, said in a statement.

Technology is the most valuable and top growing sector in the list. Cumulative value of technology brands in the list rose 8.4% to $ 675.2 billion.

Automotive and technology companies, with 31 positions (combined), dominated the list of world’s top 100 most valuable brands for 2017. Financial services (with 12 brands) and fast moving consumer goods (9 brands) were the two other sectors that dominated the list. Retail is the most growing sector with 19% increase, followed by the sporting goods (10%), technology (8%), logistics (7%), and financial services (6%).

Interbrand determines rankings and brand valuations based on factors including financial performance of branded products and services, how big a role a brand plays in influencing its consumers’ choice, brand loyalty and a brand’s command over premium pricing.

“The big highlight of this year’s report is the role technology can play in people’s lives and how brands are leveraging it. Brands that are making technology mean something for consumers are making an impact in consumers’ lives. The biggest gainers in this year’s report is a brand like Facebook which has had the maximum increase in the brand value. Consumers don’t see Facebook as a technology brand rather it is a platform where they can share opinions and express themselves and therefore it has a high brand value,” said Ashish Mishra, managing director, Interbrand India.

He further added that while India is a high growth and fast changing market, it is ironical that no Indian brand has featured in the report.

“I believe that we are not assigning roles to the Indian brands the way we should be. We are treating the brands as an overhead clubbing it with advertising, design or communication. We are not treating them as living business assets which need to provide differentiation and economic value,” he added.